Day Four: a guest post, + taking a stand on the stand

by celtaconfessions

Those of you who have read Day Four, I was left to hang would have noticed that I left out the tutor’s criticisms of me, claiming them too hurtful. Perhaps I was exaggerating a little, but I have my reasons. Freya, one of the other trainees in my group thought it unfair of me to “criticise” the others but not myself. I thought she had a point. I’ve been wanting others to voice their opinions for long enough and have said so enough times too, so I jumped at the chance and told her straight out, “Why don’t you write it?” I claimed that I wouldn’t be objective enough. Since the tutor wasn’t playing fair with me, in my humble opinion, I’d refused to repeat all the things he’d pointed out.

Needless to say, I was over the moon when Freya accepted! It’s short, but better than nothing! Thanks Freya!

Freya says…

As Chiew mentions in his post about this lesson, he was the final teacher of that morning, a difficult job considering the fact that students had been there since 10am without a break (it would be 11.20am by the time Chiew started teaching) and although it was the first week of October, this is southern Spain, and the mercury was still hitting 35C most days.

These factors combined, the class was a tad sleepy and energy levels were definitely low.

Chiew responded very well to this – if I remember correctly, he asked all of the students to stand up (everyone seems a bit sleepy = introduce some kinaesthetic learning asap!) and asked them to sit down when he said the time they had woken up that morning. He began at 7am, listing times in 15 or 30 minute intervals until everyone was seated. A simple task but it was great as it got students out of their seats and gave them a chance to revise the time. Even if it wasn’t directly related to the topic of the lesson it certainly engaged everyone, woke them up a bit and helped build a good rapport.

Chiew then moved on to the main part of the lesson, revising regular and irregular past simple forms. The students enjoyed the lesson and definitely got something from it. One of the things I think could have been improved was during the “test” part of the lesson, where the teacher tests the students’ prior knowledge (especially important during the CELTA course as you don’t know what the students have learnt before), Chiew only selected 3 students to give examples of regular/irregular past forms. Contrary to what I would have thought before teaching, most (if not all) of the students are keen to share their answers and will always want to know if their answers are correct, therefore it was a shame that Chiew didn’t get feedback from all of them.

I enjoyed the story that Chiew chose for the students to work with and thought he created interest in it very well, initially showing just a photograph and the title and asking them to try to predict what the story was about. Chiew had also pre-prepared visual aids to help with some definitions [I’ve written in my notes that you showed the students a picture of a purse when one of them asked what it was, apologies if this never happened!] Although this was helpful, it meant that Chiew didn’t elicit a definition from the students – this would have been a good opportunity to ask the group if any of them knew what a purse was, and encourage them to use the English words they knew to explain the meaning to their peers. The image then could have been showed to the group for clarification if anyone was still unsure of what a purse was.

Chiew replies…

Thanks, Freya, for your contribution, and, with your permission, I’d like to comment on a few points.

I remember the kinaesthetic activity; what I didn’t remember was that I did it in this lesson and that I’d use “the time I’d woken up” prompt. I suppose it must have been very much in my mind – all those 5am starts…

On my stage plan, I’d written the warmer as “to ask about the previous two lessons, to ask what they’d learned…” but I recalled that they looked as though they were ready to go back to bed, or to head to the nearest pool. They had hardly engaged in any speaking activities; they’d hardly moved; they’d sat through reading and listening tasks and I wasn’t about to add to their agony by some god-almighty grammar explanations! So I said sod it to the stage plan. That was the first and last time I did that with Ian’s class. At a later date, I would try it once again with Ceri, but that was the very last time I veered from my (written) plan during the course.

CELTA, to me, is a bit Govish in its attitude; it’s like going back to rote-learning and you aren’t encouraged to think on your feet, make changes as you see fit to adapt to the students in the class at that particular time. It’s about planning and sticking to your plan. Real-life teaching is very different to the CELTA training practice. You liked that activity, didn’t you, Freya? You saw how the class reacted, being the observant teacher you are. I decided on the activity a minute before I stood up to take the stand. I wasn’t going to be the lamb about to be slaughtered. It was a no-win situation. From one point of view. Either I get slaughtered for sending the students to sleep or I get slaughtered for veering from the plan. I chose the latter. Because I knew I’d win with the students, which I’d placed on a higher pedestal than CELTA’s rigidity. Of course, as we neared the closing stages, I wasn’t going to risk not passing and became more like what they wanted.

Ian didn’t mention this change of plan on the feedback session, but remarked it on paper.

But, you know something else? Perhaps even you had failed to notice… the activity wasn’t only to get their blood circulating, but also to subtly get their minds into ‘past’ mode: What time did I/you/she wake up? I woke up early. No, earlier than that. Irregular past. Interrogative. Past auxiliary. Comparative. 2-syllable comparative ending in -y.

No, Ian didn’t notice that. Or, at least, didn’t want to.

I could have done the whole 40-minute class using this activity alone. Probably. And chucked the lesson plan out the window. And still achieved the aim. This isn’t being arrogant – I apologise if it appears that way. I’m just saying real life is about adaptability. About knowing your students. Example: I could get them into pairs or groups and they could say something like, “If you drank more than 3 beers last night, touch your nose with your left elbow”. [Your left elbow, Al, your left! Sorry. Couldn’t resist that! ;-)] Just think of the fun (and the language). They would have forgotten about the heat.

More than 3 beers… Copyright 2012 Chiew Pang

Anyway. Too much said. Onto the next point.

The “test”. Ah, yes, the test. This was one area where I goofed BIG TIME. You are right, Freya, and I would have gone through the whole test…in real life. It took me three random verbs to know that they didn’t have problems. So I moved on. Reason: one of my aims was to prove to CELTA that I could stick to the timing. And I did. 40 minutes to the second. But, this came at a price, and one of this was, not so much that I didn’t go through the whole test, but I’d forgotten to tell them that the answers were on the back of the handout! I swore I believed I’d told them, but apparently, I didn’t! And Ian repeated this enough times in the feedback to make sure it registered in everyone’s minds. It was a mistake for which I didn’t forgive myself, and I spent the following few days thinking how I could have missed it, but in real life, it wouldn’t have mattered the slightest. I’d bring it up in the next lesson, period. With Ian, it was like I’d forgotten to cross all my Ts in my final test paper.

Maybe you’ll all look at me very critically, but still, I’ll say this: other trainees have made mistakes like this before (and after), and I have recordings to prove this, but he’d say, ok, you forgot that, but it was in your plan, so that’s ok. You achieved your aim. That’s good. Good lesson. Well done.

Next point. The purse. Yes, I did show it on a visual. I had anticipated this so I’d prepared the image. I thought it was enough to show them this rather than spend talking time on this non-blocking lexis. I did, however, think it useful to point out the differences between UK and US usage, but Chris poured cold water over that one! LOL. According to him, US say the same: a handbag’s a handbag, a purse is a purse.

More criticisms

OK, Freya, you win. I’ll mention a few more “awfulness” that you’d missed (maybe on purpose?) but with my justifications.

Although Ian mentioned “clear instructions” in the overall comment section, further down the page he said, “slow down your speech when giving instructions, ss had difficulty understanding some.” No doubt he was right. However, it was probably towards the end when I had an eye on the ticking clock approaching 12…

In the feedback session, and this hurt, he himself said it that others had done the same (but surprise, surprise, he hadn’t mentioned it in any of the feedbacks before, and after all the bad things he’d said, he chose to tell me, in my session, adding salt to the wound: AVOID using “Do you understand?” Avoid asking “What are you going to do?” (For more maxims, read The Ten Commandments)

There’s more. I hadn’t anticipated someone asking “Is burglar the same as thief?” Another goof. I should have been prepared for this. I knew this was an issue, so I had no excuse. I stumped at that moment. In my defence, others have made more serious errors, such as wrong grammatical explanations, but no word of them was mentioned during feedback. The tutor had his reasons I guess. But it beats me.

You want more?

I should have written instructions on my second worksheet. Obvious as they were, I still should have done so. Point taken. But, same as above – he should have said the same for the other trainees, too.

Then, there’s the game. Remember? The observers at the back read a past simple verb, students (who were divided into three groups) wrote them down. When they’ve finished writing all the verbs, one from each group then came up to the WB to write their list. I thought this went well. The students moved, and had a great time. But, again, this was shot down. Quote: CONFUSION, CONFUSION, CONFUSION! INSTRUCTIONS WERE VERY QUICK AND NOT CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD!

I don’t remember this. Maybe I did rush through the instructions – I blame the clock. But point is, they understood me, didn’t they? Or they wouldn’t have been able to play the game. So? Because I repeated the instructions? SO GODDAM WHAT? They were complicated instructions for this level. Did I achieve my aim? Yes. They listened, they spoke, they moved, they read… They realised the difficulty in understanding some past simple verbs and I demonstrated how the same word could sound different depending on the speakers – I got them to hear some words spoken in a Southern British, Kiwi, Australian, American, and my own peculiar British-influenced global accent.

And, to cap it all, in spite of there not being enough time to do everything I’d done, especially if I were to slow everything down a further notch, he said I could have done another activity… for them to discover the rules for forming past simple forms! That would take another 20 minutes, for crying out loud!

There you go, Freya. Now, do you see why I didn’t want to do this in the first instance? I knew I wouldn’t be able to control myself. Now, I’ve let it all out.

If any of you have anything to say, I’m all ears.

What would I change…

if I had this lesson again? The warmer will remain ad hoc – depends on the students at the time of the lesson.

Yes, I would definitely remember to tell them that the answers are on the back of the test. Would I do the whole test? Maybe, maybe not. There were only 12 verbs, so I might do them all – much depends on the timing, how long I spend on the warmer. Lots of learning can be done in the warmer stage, too, and when students are having fun while learning at the same time, well, I never stop them.

I’d try to give even clearer instructions, but if I had to repeat them, that’s cool. It’s listening practice. As regards the game instruction being confusing, I honestly don’t remember it being so, but if I noticed it, I could do a demonstration with a couple of verbs first.

I’d make sure I know how to explain the difference between a burglar, robber, thief, etc.; in any case, if we had to have a full lesson plan prepared, it would have come up in the language analysis. Remember that at this stage, we had only to prepare a stage plan.

I would include instructions in all exercises, regardless of how obvious they are.

Guided discovery? No, definitely not. Not with this schedule. At a later date, I did do a guided discovery with Ceri , in Intermediate, in a 60-minute lesson – and she loved it, but that’s for a future post.

Postscript

I’d like to thank Freya again for her contribution. It was much appreciated. Now if any of you (since only about 6 from my course read my stuff, I’m addressing to all the rest of you from all over the world, trainees, past, present or future, even trainers…) would like to contribute your point of view, drop me a line – it would give me tremendous pleasure.

13 Comments to “Day Four: a guest post, + taking a stand on the stand”

Yeah, I’m in mainland Spain now, in Asturias, and it just doesn’t appeal to me as much. There’s something about island life that I just love 🙂
I’ll probably teach in Asia first, anyway, as I think it’s such a massive experience and I wouldn’t want to miss out on it.
I’m thinking of using a dictaphone to record all of my thoughts and feelings – that way I could just do it while waiting for my train or before going to bed and it won’t take as long as writing it. My sister also has one that you can link to the computer and it’ll put your recordings into a Word document for you.
My course is about 25 minutes away by train so it’s not too far but I need to organise my time properly so I’m not wasting it. Luckily I’m used to running on around 5 or 6 hours sleep so I should hopefully be able to pull it off for 4 weeks. I have warned my family that I may turn into a bit of a stressed-out mess during the month, though!
One question about the notes you took during the course – did you write everything down on paper or would you suggest using a tablet/computer?
I will try and get on here during my course to let you know how it’s going 🙂

It’ll probably help that you’re with your family. I was on my own. I took to not making the bed, washing the dishes once a day, etc…LOL I didn’t have a smart phone then so couldn’t get online when I’m out – maybe it was’t a bad thing as it gave me time to disconnect and enjoy the sights,
I’m a bad note taker. I kept a note book, recorded some things, which I suppose helped a little when I looked back. But you could see the notes gradually dissolved to nothing, and ‘gradual’ may be somewhat of an understatement!
What helped me was the combination of my recordings and my notes (in the beginning anyway). When the notes stopped, I only had the recordings. When there was neither, I don’t remember much.
I’m bad with filing as well. You’ll receive quite a bit of handouts. My advice is to organise them right from the beginning. I often ended up not being able to find what I was looking for. So, when you get the handout, if you don’t staple them together, write on every sheet of paper so you can identify them when they get jumbled up. Write things like date, topic, tutor, whatever you think might help. You’ll be given a “portfolio” folder, but that stays in the school. Have a ring-file folder yourself at home. File papers as soon as you get home.
Being organised will save you time in the long run.
If you’re on FB: https://www.facebook.com/acLiLtocLiMB
Twitter: @acliltoclimb

Hi Chiew!
Thank you so much for this blog. I’m starting my CELTA course in November and all these posts are really helpful. I also want to thank you for posting about what you did wrong, even if this was a bit painful for you. It’s really useful to know what I shouldn’t do as well as what I should (e.g. instructions even for seemingly obvious exercises). Take solace in the fact that you are helping many future trainees, as well as some trainers 🙂
Thanks again!
Kat

Thanks Kat. It’s not often that I receive gratitude and gratitude is always welcomed! Loads of luck! Just don’t let any negativity get you down. Enjoy the experience, and I hope you get a nice bunch of fellow trainees! If in difficulty, you can find me anywhere.

You’re welcome 🙂
I just hope that I am able to keep as detailed a diary as you did and also that my experience is a bit different (i.e. a nice tutor, please!)
Hope you don’t mind – I did a bit of stalking and found you on Facebook. I saw you work in Gran Canaria now – that is so cool! I love the Canary Islands and actually worked as an ELA in El PAso, La Palma back in 2008 – it was certainly an experience!
I went on holiday to Fuerteventura in August and, although the expats seem to have ruined the north of the island, I have to say that I absolutely loved the south side and would love to move there one day 🙂
I haven’t been to Gran Canaria but have done Lanzarote and Tenerife as well as the other two I mentioned.
There are ten of us on our course in total so it should be interesting. I’m looking forward to it even if I am very nervous.
Hope you are enjoying the Canaries 🙂

You won’t have time! I recorded some stuff – that was how I could remember. I didn’t have an opportunity to write until much later. I still haven’t finished but now I have no time!
I’ve been here for ages. Not easy to find work here, really. Mainland Spain probaly has more scope. Would be lovely to see you though! By the way, that’s not “stalking”, that’s research! 😉

I did so enjoy this blog. I think it might be difficult to be a CELTA tutor. I was initially daunted by the repeated comments in my course that the 3% who failed were usually experienced teachers who would not give up old bad habits!

My course also began with “baptism by fire”. Lots of cryptic and pointed comments before any useful input. Deviation from the lesson plan resulted in failure (= not successful). The tutor was sitting behind the class. Trainee out the front can see faces and eyes to gauge ss interest, and understanding. And react accordingly. But adhering to the plan was paramount.

I just deleted the rest of my rant! I felt I was treated like an idiot by one tutor, but luckily there are two tutors.

It is difficult to be a tutor – not a job I’d like – and I have taken great pains to point it out in several occasions although they might have been missed – when there’s so much to read these days, people have taken to reading what they think they want to read 😉
But hard or not, the least trainees should expect is fairness, but humans being humans, 100% objectivity can be hard to come by.
And I do believe some tutors are far too rigid for anybody’s good, just as you have implied.

[…] the tutor’s himself. What grade would he give himself, I wonder. Lower than me? Remember my last post, about changing my warmer because the students looked as though they had had enough before I even […]

I like your reply – cool-headed, politically correct 😉
I’ll tell you – we didn’t receive the GD input until the afternoon session of the 11th day!
The only input we’d received, if I’m not mistaken, prior to this TP had been on the full lesson planning.

This is a really interesting read for a CELTA tutor such as myself – and it appears that much of what you object to has to do with tutor fairness – if others did the same, then why are you getting the flak, so to speak 🙂

I cannot comment on whether your tutor was right or wrong – I would need to have seen your lesson but even from your description I could make several comments – some positive, some less positive.

It might help you to think about this though:

Your learners make a number of errors and yet you choose to correct fewer made by learner A and more made by learner B – why do you do this? Do please reflect.

Perhaps your tutor was making a similar decision. You are an experienced teacher who seems to have a lot of good planning and classroom skills under your belt – was your tutor perhaps making these points because he knew you could process them, while a less experienced teacher could process much less each time?

On another level, I would like to make this comment:

A critique of one’s lesson is not a critique of the whole person, which sometimes trainee teachers seem to forget, hence your feelings of being hurt.

It’s a critique of tiny slice of your life – those 40 minutes, no more.

I know it’s hard to take especially when one has spent hours preparing a lesson, but do believe me, I have seem pretty awful lessons by trainees I am truly fond of 🙂

Does this help at all?

I love your reflections though – it is a mark of your experience and ability to articulate which is brilliant

Thanks for the visit and your comment, Marisa. Precisely the way I thought myself… at first. Bear in mind this reflection is happening long after the event; at that time, I thought he’d set me a higher target, knowing of my experience. Just like you mentioned. Fair enough. I could dig that. But when I felt the same towards the end of the course then either I’m not a good enough teacher or there’s something going wrong somewhere.

I know I made “mistakes”. I still do from day to day; for me, that’s normal because I’m not perfect. I’m not saying either that I didn’t learn anything. Quite the contrary. I found the tutor’s feedback and suggestions very helpful; even if I disagree with some of them, it’s always good to know of other opinions. That’s how we all learn and progress.

All I asked for was to be judged under the same yardstick, which, I believed, rightly or wrongly, I wasn’t.

Oh, another thing – do you think it normal to suggest I did a GD on a 40-minute lesson with a pre-intermediate group and this being ONLY MY second TP? Perhaps he thought I should have scrapped the warmer and the ‘game’ and replaced them with a GD??? It beats me.